Contest to Win Crazy for Kanji!

Part I: Single Kanji

The following three questions are about single kanji, which is to say characters standing alone, such as 知 (to know) and 人 (person). By contrast, these two kanji are no longer alone when they team up to form the compound 知人 (chijin: acquaintance).

1. One kanji can mean “fresh, vivid, clear.” This character combines two animals. What are they?

a. dog + bird
b. horse + dragon
c. rabbit + elephant
d. fish + sheep

2. One kanji combines “stone” and “skin.” What does this character mean?

a. pimple
b. to break, destroy
c. goosebumps
d. surface of a rock

3. One character combines “row, line” with “fire.” What does that produce?

a. (being in the) line of fire, being an obvious target
b. intense
c. inescapable, inevitable
d. sacrifice for one’s country

Part II: Compounds

The following questions are about compounds, which are words formed from two or more kanji.

4. If you combine the characters for “fire” and “pot,” what word do you produce? That is, fire + pot = _____?

a. hibachi (a grill)
b. hot bath
c. hot springs
d. sexpot

5. A word for “lightning” combines the kanji for “rice plant” and what other kanji? That is, rice plant + ____ = lightning.

a. king
b. wife
c. god
d. knife

6. One word for “contradiction” contains characters with opposite meanings. What are they?

a. rain + drought
b. truth + lie
c. halberd (an ax-like weapon) + shield
d. life + death

7. What does the naked truth get you? That is, naked + honesty = ____?

a. obedient
b. hurtful
c. enlightenment
d. anger

8. One four-character phrase serves as a metaphor for things that don’t exist. What is it?

a. hoofs on cats and shells on dogs
b. fur on turtles and horns on rabbits
c. antlers on horses and whiskers on birds
d. pouches on elephants and tails on snakes

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